


like a star (looking at you)

by laure_lie (justawks)



Series: Innocent Things [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Famous bucky, M/M, News Articles, SOcial mediaaaaaaa, Singer bucky, Social Media, Tattooed Bucky Barnes, Tattoos, Twitter, YouTuber Bucky, the whole shebang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 03:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8384716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justawks/pseuds/laure_lie
Summary: Lisa Lang @lliissssaaaaaSeriously obsessed with the @JBBarnes album right now - so good! #tunesmemelord @kate_harold#mcm @JBBarnes bc let’s be honest, who else was I gonna pick?!Scott Johnson @johnsonscottReally nice chatting with u bro @JBBarnes . New podcast ep. out on Tuesday!     James Barnes @JBBarnes@johnsonscott Thanks so much for having me! It was a real treat #thetalkwithsj





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've been reading a bunch of musician!bucky fics where he has a troubled past, and I was struck with the idea of musician!bucky where he maybe had not the best childhood but it wasn't, like, excruciatingly painful or anything. Hence this ficlet that has absolutely nothing to do with his childhood. Bear with me as my ideas develop - I promise there's more to come!
> 
> Bucky is loosely based off of Troye Sivan, but with the music of Jaymes Young.
> 
> Series title from the song I'll Be Good, which is Stucky af just saying. Fic title from Moodust.
> 
> Un-betaed and kinda rushed, so let me know if you see stuff that needs fixing. 
> 
> (also sorry I have the formatting of a third grader whoops)

 

**James Barnes: The Most Famous Person You’ve Never Heard Of**  
_By: Ashlee Hendricks, published October 9, 2016_

 

James Barnes has 4.7 million followers on Twitter, 5.7 million followers on Instagram, and his debut album has sold over 1 million times. He makes more off of one of his 213 YouTube videos in one day that you probably do during a 50 hour work week. Armani makes him custom suits. He has Kanye’s personal cell phone number. And yet - you’ve probably never heard of him. This 22-year-old millennial wet-dream of a pop star rose to fame in perhaps the most 21st century of ways: the internet. He joined YouTube, the wildly popular video sharing site, in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2009 that he first started posting videos. “School projects, stupid skits, crappy covers recorded in my bathroom - you name it,” the singer jokes, when asked what sort of content (that’s what YouTube videos are called nowadays, Barnes tells me) he first created. “I wasn’t really doing it with a plan in mind, it was just something fun to do with my friends, or when I was bored. Some people take YouTube way serious, but I definitely wasn’t like that.” 

 

Now, though, it’s a whole different story.

 

“I got my big break because of YouTube,” Barnes says, and it’s true. In 2011, Nick Fury of SHIELD Records caught wind of Barnes’ popular cover videos. A Brooklyn native, the SHIELD Records office is only a few blocks from the apartment Barnes grew up in, so it was easy to schedule a meeting. The rest, as they say, was history. 

 

“I was lucky. I am lucky. I know that. I’m thankful for everything I’ve achieved so far, and I know I’ve worked hard for it, but I’m also keenly aware that the stars were aligned in my favor. There’s so many little things that happened - my cover of Bulletproof getting put on the main page of YouTube, that getting popular, Nick seeing it, me being close enough to come for a meeting, all of it - it’s all up to chance.”

 

Does that make him appreciate it more? I ask. He pauses before answering, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. “In a lot of ways, yes,” he says after a pregnant pause. “I’m aware how little of my success has to do with me, how much of it came from being in the right place and the right time, so to speak. But,” he’s quick to clarify, “that doesn’t mean I’m complacent. I want to do good work, I want to earn the chance I’ve been given, if that makes sense. I want to make good music. I want to make good videos. This is what I love to do, and I’m really, really lucky that I get to do it as my job, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to always push myself to be better.” 

 

Barnes cites music as his first love, but notes that YouTube is “a place where all these things converge - music, fashion, art, theater. There’s so much you can do with YouTube. I’m trying to explore that right now, while I’ve got the chance.”

 

Barnes is riding the wave of his success off the release of his debut album, entitled, interestingly enough, Death to Music. When asked about it, Barnes smiles ruefully. “I read an article, I can’t even remember where, that called the monetization and inclusion of music on YouTube “death to music as we know it.” In a way I think I was trying to prove that person - or people who think that in general - wrong by getting signed, prove them wrong by releasing an album. It seemed fitting, sort of a “fuck you” at everyone who looks down on YouTube as a platform or creative space just because it was created in the 21st century.”

 

The album did well. Really well. So well that within a week it was on top of the iTunes chart, where it stayed for another record breaking 16 weeks. It sold over 1 billion times, and his debut North America tour sold out in 43 seconds exactly when ticket sales when live. 

 

“It was crazy. That whole period was crazy. I was expecting, like, two people to buy the album. As long as someone liked it, I’d be happy. Even if it didn’t make money, I’d have been happy if people liked it. Of course, I was happy it made money,” he says with a bright, charming laugh. He’s a charismatic guy, this James Barnes. It’s hardly a surprise things are going this well for him. 

 

His second tour - international, this time - is set to start in three months. The dates will be released on Friday _here_ , _here_ , and _here_ , as well as on Barnes’ various social media platforms. In the meantime, he’s going to “focus on YouTube, I think. I’ve been getting into vlogging, and fashion videos. I got a nicer camera. It’s fun. And it’s nice to have structure. I had my days so carefully planned out when I was working on the album and then on tour, and it’s been hard to not have that. So I try to stick to a schedule.” 

 

What sort of schedule? I ask. Well, one more grueling than you might think.

 

“Two videos a week, Mondays and Fridays, plus a monthly favorites video,” is his current posting schedule. “It takes about 5 to 10 hours to film each video, depending on what it is, and usually another 10 to edit. I could do it in less, I think, but I like to make sure my content is high quality. I’m also a little obsessive about details, which probably doesn’t help much.” And keep in mind that’s on top of his responsibilities at his record label, media events and award shows, extensive tour prep, and being with his family and friends. “I like to keep busy,” he says with a shrug. “And I feel like I owe it to my fans.” 

 

When pressed about this, something in Barnes’ face changes. 

 

“I owe a lot to the YouTube community,” Barnes says earnestly, with a kind of aw shucks expression on his face you can’t help but be placated by. It’s easy to see why he’s so popular, especially among young girls - Barnes is an attractive guy. 

 

At 6 ft. even, he’s tall and lean, with shoulder muscles that come from “carrying around all my camera equipment, for the most part. My exercise is pretty much just jogging. No weights or fancy shit.” He cuts an impressive figure. His dark locks hang just past his shoulders, but you’ll rarely see him without everything tucked back in a low “man-bun”. He favors tight jeans, he admits, and “overly priced t-shirts. I’m a sucker for a good t-shirt.” A silver hoop runs through his left nostril, and a tattoo winds up the upper part of his right arm. When asked about the tattoo, his response was an uncharacteristically short “it’s personal.” 

 

Are there other things he’d like to keep to himself? 

 

“There’s not much,” he admits. “I’m an open guy. I’ll share a lot of myself. Heck, right now I make money literally filming what I do on a day-to-day basis - it can’t get much more personal than that.”

 

Does it ever bother him?

 

“No, not really. I like being able to be open with people. With my videos especially there’s not really a pressure to be something I’m not. People like my videos because they think they’re interesting and well-made, not necessarily because they’re made by me. To me, the internet feels like a safe space. And I really love that.”

 

_Death to Music is available for download on iTunes, or for streaming on SoundCloud and Spotify. The Death to Music tour dates will be released on October 14 at 2 pm on the sites listed within._

_Ashlee Hendricks is a Media and Culture contributing author, as well as an aspiring photographer. She lives in Manhattan with her two puppies, Dodger and Scout. More of her work can be found at ashleehendricks.com._

 

 

 

+++++

 

 

 

 **Lisa Lang** _@lliissssaaaaa_  
Seriously obsessed with the @JBBarnes album right now - so good! _#tunes_

 

 **memelord** _@kate_harold_  
_#mcm_ @JBBarnes bc let’s be honest, who else was I gonna pick?!

 

 **Scott Johnson** _@johnsonscott_  
Really nice chatting with u bro @JBBarnes . New podcast ep. out on Tuesday!

 

**James Barnes** _@JBBarnes_  
@johnsonscott Thanks so much for having me! It was a real treat _#thetalkwithsj_

 

 

 

+++++

 

 

 

**How James Barnes Broke The Internet**  
_By: Ian Christiansen, published December 14, 2016_

Those of you who are fans of musician and YouTube sweetheart James Barnes (which is, like, all of you, right?) probably already know this, but it's worth repeating: Barnes just released an acoustic version of the song I'll Be Good off his debut album, and hoooooly shit. 

It's amazing. Like, seriously. 

James talked about the song during a recent appearance on _The Talk with SJ_ , a popular pop culture podcast hosted on SoundCloud. 

"I'll Be Good has a lot of special meaning to me. All of my songs do, but that one in particular is close to my heart. It's a promise, of sorts, to do a bit better in certain aspects of my personal life. 

If you ask us, Mr. Barnes, you're doing just fine right now. 

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8Bz37JpUo 

 

 

 

+++++

 

 

 

**James Barnes** _@JBBarnes_  
Who's excited for @BartonTonight ?! I think you guys are really gonna like this one...interview and performance! 10/9 c on NBC! 

 

 

 

+++++

 

 

 

**Clint Barton** : James, Jimmy, Jim, my man, how are you? 

**James Barnes** : I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you? 

**CB** : I'm better now that you're here. 

**JB** : Aww...Clint. 

**CB** : I kid, I kid. Well, I'm glad you're here. We've got lots of exciting things to talk about. 

**JB** : Indeed we do. 

**CB** : Now, first off, the tour. Are you excited, are you ready? How do you feel? 

**JB** : I'm so ready to go on the road, you have no idea. At first I was a little nervous, because I've never toured for so long before, but the closer we get to the first show the more I just want it to start. We've worked so hard on this show - I think it's gonna be amazing. 

**CB** : I'm sure it is...you certainly haven't disappointed in the past. 

**JB** : *laughs* 

**CB** : Now, second order of business - this new song. Or well, new version of a song. Where did this come from? 

**JB** : I'll Be Good has always felt like an acoustic song to me. I wrote it on an acoustic guitar. But it didn't fit with the album that way, and I didn't want it as just a bonus track, which is why we went for the studio version on the album itself. Especially with taking a break from writing to focus on the tour and YouTube and stuff, I could feel myself getting antsy, so I thought what the heck? Why not? I went back in and cleaned it up and recorded it. 

**CB** : How does it feel to have people respond so well? It's a really different feel from most of the album. 

**JB** : Yeah, you're right. It's a relief, in a way. This version is way closer to my original idea, and it feels more real, if that makes sense. I'm glad people are so excited about the acoustic too. I'm planning on doing some acoustic stuff on tour, so it's nice to get confirmation that people don't hate that, at least. 

**CB** : They certainly don't hate it, that's for sure. 

**JB** : *laughs* I hope so. 

**CB** : Now, I just have to ask - are there any special ladies in your life? The people have to know... 

**JB** : Well, I doubt my boyfr--shit. 

**CB** : Boyfriend, hmm? 

**JB** : *laughs* I guess there's no recovering from that, is there? 

**CB** : Just doing my job, Jim. 

**JB** : In that case, yeah, I doubt my boyfriend would be happy if there was a special lady in my life. 

**CB** : Fair enough. How does he feel about the tour? 

**JB** : He's happy about it, I think. I've been a nuisance recently, just waiting for it to start. 

**CB** : Will he be joining you? 

**JB** : At a couple stops, yeah. He's still in school, so his schedule is way tighter than mine, obviously, but he tries to make it to a couple stops and I try to make it home a couple times. It's difficult, but... 

**CB** : I imagine. Now, unfortunately, we're out of time. Thanks so much for coming out to chat. 

**JB** : Thanks so much for having me! 

**CB** : James Barnes' album _Death to Music_ is available for download on iTunes. Tickets are still available for his upcoming tour - tickets are available at his website. Stay tuned to see him perform single "Moondust" after the break! 

 

 

 

+++++

 

 

 

**James Barnes** _@JBBarnes_  
Thanks for all the support! I love you guys to the moon and back - your kind words mean a lot!  <3<3<3 

**James Barnes** _@JBBarnes_  
@JBBarnes and to all those asking, his name is Steve, and he's amazing 


End file.
